Lavayla tried—honestly tried—to keep herself from chuckling, but it bubbled out anyway. "Thank you for your reassurance, Garrick."
"You're welcome, Miss Lavayla!" he replied immediately, beaming as he'd just accomplished a heroic feat.
She sighed then, letting her gaze sweep over each of their faces before she spoke. "What if I go to your tribe as a guest?"
Confusion rippled through them like a breeze. Several blinked. A few tilted their heads. One of the younger women mouthed the word 'guest' as if it were a foreign fruit she wasn't sure how to bite into.
"So… does that mean you are going with us?" Tila asked, her voice soft and careful when the silence stretched too long.
